When we all managed to actually wake up and pull it together, day 4 started off nicely with big breakfast and some balcony relaxation at our haunted hotel. Broc stepped out of the van with a jug of pee asking if we wanted some lemonade, and then conquered his fear of ghosts for a second and finally came upstairs for some food….we’re all so proud of him. From there some of the crew went out and pedaled around Bisbee in search of spots for the day, and we ended up finding this crazy tunnel setup with a near impossible uphill runway…
The girl from the bar the night before had told us all about how the city of Bisbee was built with all these crazy tunnels and stuff underneath, but unfortunately they are all totally dark and no parts near the entrances or exits were really ride-able. We did manage to find this little water drainage tunnel though, which was pretty much the next best thing. With the help of Broc, Eric, and Raban, Drew’s uphill battle ended up working out nicely.
Althogh the population of this old mining town is a mere shadow of what it once was when more mines were running, mining is clearly still the back backbone of this town next to tourism. Here’s a quick stop at the “The Lavender Pit” which is a pretty breathtaking hole. That is also what he said…
The downside of going and seeking out a really small town that’s never really had anyone ride BMX there, is that once your activities even raise an eyebrow, the whole thing is pretty much over. Despite our efforts to keep it somewhat low-key, we ended up cutting a fence at a historic church and getting on the cops radar pretty quickly, then in this second time above the guy knew about the first cop, etc etc and we pretty much had to get out of town. In both instances though we got the tricks done before getting the boot, so it was well worth it.
Later Bisbee, it’s been deece.
On the way out of town we stopped at the Boothill Graveyard & Jewish Memorial to be tourists real quick.
It was pretty wild to see all these old rock pile type graves with carvings like “Unknown” Hung By Mistake” and “Shot By A Chinaman.”
I decided to join the man club in the gift shop & purchase a pocket knife…but of course not before this amazing photo opportunity.
Ah, civilization. On our way back to Phoenix we decided to stop in Tuscon and pedal around the main part of the city a bit. Bahlman unleased some back wheel wizardry on those stairs and Drew did a very very New York style smith grind. Very great end to the southern stint of our ghost town adventure. Now on to Gerome…
